If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

What Timeline do you think the Main Pokemon Games follow?

If anyone of you have noticed, the mainstream Pokemon games have 2 different timelines.

The first timeline follows Red from R/B/G/Y becoming a Pokemon Master and defeating Team Rocket. 3 years later, Ethan from G/S becomes a Pokemon Master, defeats Team Rocket, and encounters the "Strongest trainer in the world" Red. Another 3 years later, Brendan/May from R/S move from Johto to Hoenn and start their Pokemon Master Quest while saving Hoenn from either Team Magma or Team Aqua. 4 years later, society has developed even further and Lucas/Dawn from D/P aim to become a Pokemon Master like their predecessors and save Sinnoh and the Pokemon world as we know it from the incredibly evil Team Galactic. Another 4 years after this, Hilbert/Hilda from B/W join their friends Cheren and Bianca to become Pokemon Masters, complete the Pokedex, and save the world and all Pokemon within it from Team Plasma and their leader N. Finally, 2 years later, Hilbert/Hilda have set off to find their friend N while Kyouhei/Mei from B2/W2 and their friend Hugh go off to become Pokemon Masters while countering the return of Team Plasma and the Shadow Triad.

The second timeline, which I believe is the true canon follows Red/Leaf from FR/LG and their childhood friend Blue try to become Pokemon Masters while ending the plans of Team Rocket. 3 years later, Gold/Kris(Crystal)/Lyra from HG/SS and their rival Silver go off to become Pokemon Masters, encounter Red from FR/LG and defeat the revived Team Rocket once and for all. Another 3 years later, Ruby/Sapphire move from the Johto region to the Hoenn region, meeting their new sick friend Wally and trying to become Pokemon Masters and Contest Coordinators. Their job isn't done yet because they also have to take down Team Magma and Team Aqua...at the same time, and conquering the new Battle Frontier. 2 years later, it's snowing in Sinnoh when Diamond/Platinum from Pt and their friend Pearl journey through Sinnoh to become Champions, defeat Team Galactic who plan to erase the current world and create anew, and save the world from being destroyed by the Distortion World. 2 Years later, Black/White and their childhood friends Cheren and Bianca journey to become Pokemon Masters, complete the Pokedex, and save the world and all Pokemon within it from Team Plasma and their leader N. Finally, 2 years later, Black/White have set off to find their friend N while Kyouhei/Mei from B2/W2 and their friend Hugh go off to become Pokemon Masters while countering the return of Team Plasma and the mysterious Colress.

Which timeline do you think the Pokemon games follow? Do you have a timeline that is different from what I think? Reply to the thread.

RBYGSC are non-canon in my timeline, and so is the post-game of BW (except for the Sage Hunt) and the World Tournament in BW2. I haven't quite determined Emerald's canonicity to my timeline, although Diamond and Pearl are non-canon.

Listen, you gotta remember these things; always avoid claims of Fennekin being (or becoming) part Fighting-type, don't tick off mods, and NEVER (and I mean NEVER!) suggest that Arceus is the God of Pokemon when Endolise is online. If you somehow make this mistake, run for the hills before he attempts to murder you via tongue lashing.

It is a safe assumption that remakes trump the originals, and 3rd versions trump the first pair. The differences between Plat and D/P, as far as plot differences go (not plot additions), are few and far between (given your starter vs finding them, for example). The same is true for R/S and Emerald.

The only firm canon is 3 years between Gen I and II and 2 years between BW and B2W2. But from there, we can make some safe assumptions:

Sinnoh takes place sometime after Kanto and Johto's years since Oak seems to have some level of celebrity as well as several Johto references.

HGSS features Steven Stone as a wandering trainer (Champion?) similar to what he was in Emerald, so I think it is a safe assumption that Emerald's adventures take place between the 3 years of Kanto and Johto. This is really an easy fit since Gen III has very few references to the past.

HGSS and BW both feature Cynthia as a Sinnoh Champion, so Sinnoh takes place before HGSS and BW.

So IMO

Gen I is first

Gen III and IV take place between Gen I and II's 3 year gap, possibly even at the same time.

Gen II takes place at the end of the 3 year gap since HGSS is filled with references to all of the previous regions.

BW and B2W2 take place after HGSS.

I have no reason to believe BW's post-game in East Unova isn't canon, but I haven't played B2W2 so its possible something in there retcons all that. But even after beating the E4, the Sages still have to be tracked down, Looker is introduced, as is Cynthia, so I find it hard to believe East Unova isn't canon.

The Sevii Islands are a strange part, but I have no reason to believe they aren't canon. They just, for whatever reason, weren't featured in HGSS.

The tricky parts are the Tower/Frontiers/Subway, especially with the Stat Trainers from Sinnoh inexplicably appearing in HGSS's Frontier and Hilda appearing out of nowhere in BW. But maybe those are best to ignore since I imagine most fans don't play those areas a whole lot.

I'm part of the staff at Project Pokemon! Smod in forums, AOP in IRC, Administrator on Shoddy. Come visit us. Our Project is Pokemon!

The way I see it, Gen3 rebooted the series from the beginning by introducing FR/LG as "modernized" versions of the Kanto storyline and ret-conning the old versions out. HG/SS did the same for the Johto storyline. So basically, there's now two timelines:

Okay, I'm going to attempt this. The only thing that is outright said in the game is:

FR/LG---3 years--->HG/SS.
B/W---2 years--->B/W2

After that, theres a news report of the Red Gyrados at the beginning of Platinum, so this makes it:

FR/LG---3 years--->HG/SS-D/P/Pt.
B/W---2 years--->B/W2

Most people believe that R/S/E takes place at the same time as FR/LG because of the Sevii Islands quest, but I personally disagree. I think that it was just because they had to make a way to trade with R/S/E, so I personally think that R/S/E is open to speculation. However, in B/W2, there's two Aqua and Magma grunts who say that many years ago, They had a battle to expand the land/sea. They have a family, so they had to have time to settle down. Also, the Rocket member in B/W also had to settle down and had kids, so this confirms B/W comes last. This basically means that R/S/E is anywhere before B/W, so that leaves us with three possible timelines.

Okay, I'm going to attempt this. The only thing that is outright said in the game is:

FR/LG---3 years--->HG/SS.
B/W---2 years--->B/W2

After that, theres a news report of the Red Gyrados at the beginning of Platinum, so this makes it:

FR/LG---3 years--->HG/SS-D/P/Pt.
B/W---2 years--->B/W2

Most people believe that R/S/E takes place at the same time as FR/LG because of the Sevii Islands quest, but I personally disagree. I think that it was just because they had to make a way to trade with R/S/E, so I personally think that R/S/E is open to speculation. However, in B/W2, there's two Aqua and Magma grunts who say that many years ago, They had a battle to expand the land/sea. They have a family, so they had to have time to settle down. Also, the Rocket member in B/W also had to settle down and had kids, so this confirms B/W comes last. This basically means that R/S/E is anywhere before B/W, so that leaves us with three possible timelines.

I personally believe that whole thing with Celio and One Island's PC system was to tell the player that at the time, trades over extremely long distances (between regions) couldn't be done without a tweak to the system, which explains why trades between RSE and trades between FRLG could be done without that fix, but trades between Ruby and LeafGreen, for example, couldn't.

The only reason I believe RSE happened slightly before FR/LG did is because there wouldn't have to be a tweak to the trading system if there weren't anybody complaining about how they couldn't give their Seedot to their friend in Kanto, for example.

Oh, and the PWT is just a non-story-driven bonus feature added to BW2, and is just something to please players (by not "wasting" the existence of gym leaders from other regions, for lack of a better term), which makes me believe that it isn't canon, either.

I don't think it's known whether or not the Gyarados mentioned in "The Search for the Red Gyarados" is the same one from the Lake of Rage.

I personally believe that most story-driven added content in remakes of games are true, which makes this my theoretical timeline:

I personally believe that whole thing with Celio and One Island's PC system was to tell the player that at the time, trades over extremely long distances (between regions) couldn't be done without a tweak to the system, which explains why trades between RSE and trades between FRLG could be done without that fix, but trades between Ruby and LeafGreen, for example, couldn't.

The only reason I believe RSE happened slightly before FR/LG did is because there wouldn't have to be a tweak to the trading system if there weren't anybody complaining about how they couldn't give their Seedot to their friend in Kanto, for example.

You're right; we don't know for sure that it's the same Gyarados, but it's extremely likely that it is.

You know, one could just say that the Ruby and Sapphire allow trade between the Islands and Hoenn, but not necessarily RSE-era Hoenn. It could just be Hoenn long before or after the events of RSE.

Originally Posted by Lord Zoroark

Listen, you gotta remember these things; always avoid claims of Fennekin being (or becoming) part Fighting-type, don't tick off mods, and NEVER (and I mean NEVER!) suggest that Arceus is the God of Pokemon when Endolise is online. If you somehow make this mistake, run for the hills before he attempts to murder you via tongue lashing.

You're right; we don't know for sure that it's the same Gyarados, but it's extremely likely that it is.

You know, one could just say that the Ruby and Sapphire allow trade between the Islands and Hoenn, but not necessarily RSE-era Hoenn. It could just be Hoenn long before or after the events of RSE.

Hmm. I don't remember exactly, but if that machine were broken and was fixed after the FRLG player character's help, then I believe that the machine always did allow trade between Kanto and Hoenn. But if the FRLG player character was the one whose help made the machine first start running, then I believe that the success of that machine made Kanto-Hoenn trade possible for the very first time.

Regardless, because Kanto-Hoenn trade isn't possible in FRLG until the events at One Island, that makes it so that the machine already isn't working before the FRLG player character starts their journey.

Come to think of it, how do we know whether or not those hypothetical complaints of "I can't give my Kanto friend my Seedot without actually giving it to him in person!" happen before or during the events of RSE? I actually don't know. But in my timeline, X can be 0, so I guess it could still make sense:

i think red starts his journy. 2 years later gold meets red at the same time sapphire and emerald do their stuff at the same time the diamond and pearl people travel at the same time black anf white travel. then 2 yesrs later b2 and w2 travel. sl its only been like 5 years in my opinion.

i think red starts his journy. 2 years later gold meets red at the same time sapphire and emerald do their stuff at the same time the diamond and pearl people travel at the same time black anf white travel. then 2 yesrs later b2 and w2 travel. sl its only been like 5 years in my opinion.

There are three years between FRLG and HGSS. The events of HGSS happen concurrently with Platinum, not RSE. RSE has no set place in the timeline, other than being "several years" before BW2. Also there have to have been several years between HGSS/Platinum and BW1, because Caitlin has aged greatly between the two. So really, the series cannot, in any way, have taken place within a five year timespan.

Originally Posted by Lord Zoroark

Listen, you gotta remember these things; always avoid claims of Fennekin being (or becoming) part Fighting-type, don't tick off mods, and NEVER (and I mean NEVER!) suggest that Arceus is the God of Pokemon when Endolise is online. If you somehow make this mistake, run for the hills before he attempts to murder you via tongue lashing.

In Platinum, you start the game watching a report on the Red Gyarados, which was created shortly after Ethan and Lyra began their adventure.

They also share a Battle Frontier, though the status of that as canon is debatable.

Is it proven whether or not the Gyarados mentioned in the TV program is the same one as the one at the Lake of Rage? All I can decipher is that it's from a national TV station (able to cover all the regions), but I don't think they explicitly say. It's precisely this ambiguity that makes me put the events of DPP anywhere within those brackets in my theoretical timeline.

As for the Battle Frontiers being shared, I don't consider that to be canon for two reasons:
- If the events of Platinum and HGSS are truly concurrent like that, then there's no way the Frontier Brains could be in both near the Fight Area and near Olivine City at the same time.
- I don't consider non-story-driven added features to be canon to begin with.

As for the Battle Frontiers being shared, I don't consider that to be canon for two reasons:
- If the events of Platinum and HGSS are truly concurrent like that, then there's no way the Frontier Brains could be in both near the Fight Area and near Olivine City at the same time.
- I don't consider non-story-driven added features to be canon to begin with.

The problem with that is that while the Frontiers themselves might be non-canon, they certainly have canon that happens around them. Barry's father is Palmer, and in D/P/Plat, Palmer mentions the player, the player's father, and Barry before/during/after the battle. And a battle with Flint/Volkner happens outside of the Frontier. Also, Claire from the Unova E4 first appears as a Frontier head.

I'm part of the staff at Project Pokemon! Smod in forums, AOP in IRC, Administrator on Shoddy. Come visit us. Our Project is Pokemon!

The problem with that is that while the Frontiers themselves might be non-canon, they certainly have canon that happens around them. Barry's father is Palmer, and in D/P/Plat, Palmer mentions the player, the player's father, and Barry before/during/after the battle. And a battle with Flint/Volkner happens outside of the Frontier. Also, Caitlin* from the Unova E4 first appears as a Frontier head.

True, but the Battle Frontier itself isn't really story-related. The way I view it, Palmer being Barry's father and mentioning the player's father and Barry were just justification for the two being there in the first place, rather than actually being central to the story.

In other words, I don't consider the Battle Frontier as a whole to be canon (existing in both Platinum and HG/SS at the same time, for example), but I certainly do consider the stories of the characters within them (Caitlin and her psychic powers).

I have no reason to believe BW's post-game in East Unova isn't canon, but I haven't played B2W2 so its possible something in there retcons all that. But even after beating the E4, the Sages still have to be tracked down, Looker is introduced, as is Cynthia, so I find it hard to believe East Unova isn't canon.

It... sort of is and sort of isn't. The non-canon parts would be if the player caught Kyurem in BW, mostly. But I'm pretty sure it's canon that the post-E4 eastern half of Unova is considered to have happened.

The Beginning - Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen - Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald & Pokemon Colosseum are all set in the same time period. My reasoning behind this is the fact that during mission in which the player has to help Celio get the transfer machine working he refers to Hoenn in the current tense which implies the games are set at the same time whereas in Colosseum their is a transfer machine that works in similar manor and during the timing of that game no Gen IV pokemon were discovered or even known.

Later Years - Pokemon HG/SS/Pt/D/P/Pt & Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness
Gold and Silver as everyone knows was set 3 years after FireRed and LeafGreen which naturally makes it later in the timeline and numerous references are made in the game to "Mt Moon Square, Professor Elm and the 2 Legendary Mascots" which as we know Mt Moon Square didn't exist until some point in between FR & LG which seems to imply that both games take places in the same timeline or atleast a very close one. Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness is set 5 years after Colosseum and the presents of Munchlax and Bonsly seem to imply the timelines are rather close to that of D/P/PT.

Further in the future - Pokemon Black and White
The main evidence which bases itself on this games timing is the fact that Cynthia references her battle to Lucas and Giratina which took place in the events of Pokemon Platinum which of course suggests it was in the past.

Now - Pokemon Black and White 2
Clearly set ahead of Pokemon BW as even the title of the game suggests swell as the countless time it's mentioned in the game.

So as far as I see it it goes like this.

Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen & Pokemon Emerald, Ruby and Sapphire are all set at the start of the series.
Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness are set sometime during or between these events.
Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver/Platinum/Diamond & Pearl are all set (at least) 3 years following the events of FireRed and Leaf Green
Pokemon Black and White is set after the events of Pokemon Platinum
Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 are set ahead of the events of Pokemon Black and White.

Well by the sounds of the report, the Red Gyarados still exists and isn't captured. So either before, or during the journey BEFORE Ethan gets to the Red Gyarados.

On another note:, the other problem with "Platinum overrides DP continuity" is DP mentions Red Gyarados in the TV broadcast, while Plat's first broadcast is about Rowan.

The report could have been filmed before Ethan/Lyra got there but aired after they captured/defeated it. There was probably some editing or something to be done anyway like with most broadcasts.

Also, Platinum still mentions the Red Gyarados later on; some reporter near Lake Valor (I think) says he was involved in the filming of it.

Last edited by Endolise; 12th September 2012 at 5:29 PM.

Originally Posted by Lord Zoroark

Listen, you gotta remember these things; always avoid claims of Fennekin being (or becoming) part Fighting-type, don't tick off mods, and NEVER (and I mean NEVER!) suggest that Arceus is the God of Pokemon when Endolise is online. If you somehow make this mistake, run for the hills before he attempts to murder you via tongue lashing.